Torso Simulator for Ballistics Testing

ABSTRACT

A device for simulating the anatomy of an animal to determine projectile performance is provided, comprising an enclosure having a front side and a rear side, wherein the front side includes a plurality of target images; a plurality of containers equal in number to the plurality of target images, wherein each of the containers is positioned within the enclosure and aligned behind one of the target images, and wherein each container includes at least one internal organ simulant material; a front hide/skin simulant material within the enclosure positioned between the front side and the containers, and a rear hide/skin simulant material positioned between the rear side and the containers; a front muscle simulant material within the enclosure positioned between the front hide/skin simulant material and the containers, and a rear muscle simulant material positioned between the rear hide/skin simulant material and the containers; and a front bone simulant material within the enclosure positioned between the muscle simulant material and the containers, and a rear bone simulant material positioned between the rear muscle simulant material and the containers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to devices used to assess the penetrativeperformance characteristics of projectiles, and more particularly tosuch devices for simulating the anatomical features of game animals orhumans using a system that provides a multiple of targets in a compactand predefined array.

2. Description of Related Art

Big game hunting is an exhilarating sport enjoyed by many enthusiastsaround the world. According to the 2001 National Survey of Fishing,Hunting and Wildlife-Related Recreation, there are approximately 11million big game hunters in the United States that spend $6.5 billion onhunting related equipment annually. Big game is most often taken withrifles, although large caliber pistols, shotguns, and archery equipmentare also commonly used. The best way to prepare for big game hunting andensure one's success in bringing down these large animals is to know howthe projectile, e.g. the bullet or arrow, will perform when shooting theintended game animal.

In the United States, there are over 19 million citizens that haveright-to-carry permits to provide for their personal protection. Thereare a plethora of defensive ammunition choices available for thosecitizens to purchase. Determining which ammunition option is best fortheir particular handgun is currently limited to observing testingperformed by the ammunition companies using ballistics gelatin.Ballistics gelatin is not an appropriate representation of humananatomy, because it only simulates the properties of human muscle.

There are a wide variety of shooting targets and ballistic methodologiesused to test projectile performance. Some of the more popular targetsare wet pack (water soaked newspaper), ballistic gelatin, water filledtanks, and metal sheets. All of these shooting targets are deficient forvarious reasons when trying to accurately simulate a projectile's damageon a living animal. A common shortcoming with many targets is the lackof a full “shoulder to shoulder” representation.

Specifically, most of these existing targets do not comprise aheterogeneous stacked mixture of materials having properties similar totheir biologic counterparts. As a result, use of such targets leaves thehunter with insufficient knowledge of how the projectiles would performon a live animal. Animals are composed of hide or skin, muscle, bone,and internal organs. All of these tissues must be accounted for toaccurately predict projectile performance using a mechanical model.

Shooting enthusiasts are often limited in the resources they can devoteto effectively testing projectile incapacitation on game animals andhumans. Therefore, cost effective devices and methods are of greatinterest to these hunters and defensive shooters. However, inexpensivedevices generally fail to deliver the reliable simulation resultsrequired, because their simple structures do not provide accurateanalogs to anatomical tissues. Moreover, a projectile's mechanicalbehavior varies significantly with respect to its penetrating medium.For example, modeling a 30-inch wide Cape buffalo by using only thirtyinches (30″) of ballistic gelatin will not provide the user an accuratesimulation of real-life bullet performance. Since the gelatin block doesnot incorporate a bone simulant, the bullet's expansion, deceleration,and fragmentation results cannot be regarded as reliable. Many peoplecontinue to use these homogeneous targets strictly because betteralternatives do not exist. Therefore, prediction of projectileperformance on a live animal remains speculative, calling into questionthe use of such unreliable methods from the start.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,525 to Jones discloses a device for testing bulletpenetration, however, it does not provide a means for keeping thegelatin block from moving after impact from the bullet. Furthermore, thedevice does not account for the effect of hide or skin, bone, orinternal organs on the projectile. Importantly, ballistic gelatin canonly be used to simulate muscle, not internal organs. The specificgravity and mechanical properties of muscle are different than internalorgans, because internal organs contain more liquid and gases.

U.S. Pat. No. 523,510 to Brunswig discloses a tank system to measureprojectile penetration. Similar to most other penetration testingdevices, that invention does not take into account the effect of bone,hide, or skin on the projectile's performance.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,033 to Mirzeabasov, et al., most closely replicatesone half of a torso of a human. However, even if this device wereemployed, one could not predict the effect of a shoulder-to-shouldershot on a big game animal. In order to determine the distance ofpenetration, the device must effectively be destroyed to find the endpoint of the projectile's path. Moreover, it does not provide acombination of internal organ simulants having liquid and air, or theability to test penetration across multiple targets having independentstacked materials.

U.S. Pat. No. 8,215,165 to Giurintano, et al., of which the applicant ofthe present application is a co-inventor, discloses a device forsimulating the torso of an animal or human to determine projectileperformance, comprising a support frame; and a plurality of selectivelyremovable simulant inserts, including a hide simulant insert, a musclesimulant insert, a bone simulant insert, and one or more internal organsimulant inserts. The simulant inserts are placed within the supportframe in a predetermined order specific to the type of animal or humanbeing simulated. While this device is beneficial for many reasons, itlacks the feature of having multiple targets, where each of the targetsis presented in front of an independent stack of simulants. Furthermore,the applicant's prior patent requires a rigid frame for the replacementsof simulant inserts, rather than a simple and disposable system forpenetration testing.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,195 to Duke discloses an elongated trough filledwith alternating layers of a foam substance and a fibrous substance. Aprojectile is shot into the filling substance substantially parallel toa longitudinal axis of the trough. The trough can be opened and theprojectile can be recovered from the filling substance. There is nomention of any desired correlation between the material characteristicsof the fibrous or foam substances and the anatomical features of a humanor animal. As with other prior art, Duke does not disclose the use ofmultiple targets, nor the ability to fire multiple shots into the systemthrough filler material that has been unaffected or destroyed by priorshots. Moreover, Duke does not disclose any use of materials whichsimulate the internal organs of the game animal, such as liquid andgases.

Thus, with the exception of the applicant's prior patent, none of thepreviously described devices combine all four of the heterogeneousmaterials that would be penetrated by a projectile for ashoulder-to-shoulder shot on a big game animal. Furthermore, none of theprior art provide a system which allows the shooter to fire projectilesinto a disposable device having multiple targets, where each of thetargets is positionally aligned with an independent stack of “fresh”simulants of hide, bone, muscle, and internal organs which areunaffected by prior shots at other targets on the same system.

What is needed, therefore, is a true shoulder-to-shoulder torsosimulation device for projectile performance testing which includesmechanical analogs or simulants for all anatomical tissues. It shouldenable quick and easy discernment of penetration depth and wound cavityby allowing the user to assess performance without disturbing adjacenttargets and their associated simulant stacks. The device should bescalable to permit the use of varying types and sizes of inserts andmaterials to closely approximate the actual width and specific gravityof a wide range of animals, including deer, elk, bear, eland, buffalo,other big game, or human torsos. Finally, it should be relativelycompact, portable, and disposable in consideration of the distancesrequired for testing in potentially remote locations.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, a device for simulating the anatomy of an animal to determineprojectile penetration performance is provided, comprising an enclosurehaving a front side and a rear side, wherein the front side includes aplurality of target images; a plurality of containers equal in number tothe plurality of target images, wherein each of the containers ispositioned within the enclosure and aligned behind one of the targetimages, and wherein each container includes at least one internal organsimulant material; a front hide/skin simulant material within theenclosure positioned between the front side and the containers, and arear hide/skin simulant material positioned between the rear side andthe containers; a front muscle simulant material within the enclosurepositioned between the front hide/skin simulant material and thecontainers, and a rear muscle simulant material positioned between therear hide/skin simulant material and the containers; and a front bonesimulant material within the enclosure positioned between the musclesimulant material and the containers, and a rear bone simulant materialpositioned between the rear muscle simulant material and the containers.

In a preferred embodiment, each of the plurality of containers includesa plurality of air inserts, or a combination of air inserts and liquidinserts.

In a preferred embodiment, each of the front and rear hide/skin simulantmaterials is a panel approximately equal to the area of the front sideand at least partially behind each of the plurality of target images.Also, each of the front and rear muscle simulant materials is a panelapproximately equal to the area of the front side and at least partiallybehind each of the plurality of target images. Further, each of thefront and rear bone simulant materials is a panel approximately equal tothe area of the front side and at least partially behind each of theplurality of target images.

In another embodiment, the plurality of target images is arranged in apredefined array.

Preferably, the resilience to penetration of each of the hide/skinsimulant material, the muscle simulant material, the bone simulantmaterial, and the internal organ simulant material is determined basedon anatomical characteristics of a specific animal.

In another embodiment, the hide/skin simulant material is constructedfrom one of more layers of a fiberboard or cardboard. Also, the musclesimulant material is constructed from one or more layers of a resilientmaterial. Further, the bone simulant material is constructed from one ormore layers of a fiberboard material.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a further understanding of the nature, objects, and advantages ofthe present invention, reference should be had to the following detaileddescription, read in conjunction with the following drawings, whereinlike reference numerals denote like elements.

FIG. 1 shows a fully assembled and closed view of the exterior of apreferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a side cross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 1depicting the simulant materials stacked in a preferred order.

FIG. 3 shows a detailed view of the container for the internal organsimulant containing a combination of liquid and air inserts.

FIG. 4 shows two devices stacked one behind the other along thetrajectory of a projectile for simulating the anatomy of a large animal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Before the subject invention is further described, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the particularembodiments of the invention described below, as variations of theparticular embodiments may be made and still fall within the scope ofthe appended claims. It is also to be understood that the terminologyemployed is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments, and isnot intended to be limiting. Instead, the scope of the present inventionwill be established by the appended claims.

In this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,”“an,” and “the” include plural reference unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. Unless defined otherwise, all technical andscientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonlyunderstood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this inventionbelongs.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention described and shownherein is a disposable, light-weight, multi-target animal torsosimulator for assessing projectile penetration performance. Referencesin this description to projectiles includes any type of bullet fired bya firearm (such as handguns, rifles, and shotguns), projectiles used formilitary or law enforcement purposes, and projectiles used in archeryequipment, such as arrows.

When the term “projectile performance” is used herein, we mean anassessment of the projectile's penetration results, as well as trauma orother effects to other layers which have not been penetrated. Forexample, non-penetrated layers may be subject to cracking, bursting, orother perceptible deformations which are analogous to actual anatomicalbruising, cracked or broken bones, or ruptured organs due to hydrostaticshock from projectile impact. Although the term “animal torso” is usedherein, for animals such as deer, elk, grizzly bear, eland Cape buffalo,etc., it should be understood that the present invention may be equallysuitable for simulating the anatomical characteristics of a human torsofor military, law enforcement, or self-defense purposes. Similarly,references to hide or skin may be used interchangeably depending onwhether references are made to animals or humans, respectively.

Turning now to FIG. 1, an exterior view of a preferred embodiment of thesimulator 1 is shown. An external support structure 2, in the form of apaper fiber board box includes a front panel 3, opposing side panels 4,a rear panel 5, a bottom panel 8, and an openable top panel 6. The frontpanel 3 of support structure 2 includes a plurality of target images 7arranged in a predefined array, such as the 3×3 rectangular array shownin FIG. 1. It will be understood that any number of target images 7 maybe arranged in any suitable array, limited only by the size and shape ofthe support structure 2. For example, the target images 7 may comprise asingle row or column rather than a rectangular array, or the targetimages 7 may be staggered or offset from one another such as a honeycombpattern, circular pattern, or other pattern that contains suitableseparation between the target images 7 as described below. The top panel6 includes two opposing flaps which can be opened or closed in theconventional manner as needed for assembly of the contents and forremoving the contents to assess projectile performance.

To simulate the anatomy of an animal torso, a number of material layersrepresenting the hide, muscle, bone, and internal organs of the animalare placed inside the support structure 2, such that a projectile firedinto one of the target images 7 will penetrate one or more materiallayers before stopping inside the support structure 2. Each of thesimulant materials described herein is an approximation for its relatedanatomical structure, and those simulant materials will be described inthe order that they are penetrated by the projectile. A projectile path30 is shown to indicate a typical direction of penetration of thesimulator 1 into the target image 7 and front panel 3. A sidecross-sectional view of the simulator 1 is shown in FIG. 2 with the sidepanel 4 removed for clarity.

The support structure 2 itself has a material thickness that may serveas an anatomical simulant for the skin or hide layer 11 of the torso.Thus, depending on the materials chosen for the support structure 2, theresistance of the front panel 3 may be higher or lower, and itsmaterials may be selected accordingly based on the hide/skincharacteristics of the specific animal that is being simulated.Alternatively, a separate hide/skin simulant panel 12 shown in FIG. 2may be inserted within the support structure 2 directly behind thetarget images 7, where the hide/skin simulant panel 12 is approximatelythe same size as the front panel 3, and such that it resides behind allof the plurality of target images 7. In other words, regardless of whichtarget image 7 is used, the hide/skin simulant panel 12 will bepenetrated at that point. Nonlimiting examples of a suitable materialfor the hide/skin simulant panel 12 are fiberboard, leather, orimitation leather.

Next, a muscle simulant panel 13 shown in FIG. 2 is positioned directlybehind the hide/skin simulant panel 12, where the muscle simulant panel13 in similar in size and shape to the hide/skin simulant panel 12. Themuscle simulant panel 13 can be any material whose density or mechanicalproperties roughly correspond to the resistance of the muscle of theanimal, such as a resilient material, including rubber.

Next, a bone simulant panel 14 shown in FIG. 2 is positioned directlybehind the muscle simulant panel 13, where the bone simulant panel 14 insimilar in size and shape to the hide/skin and muscle simulant panels12, 13. The bone simulant panel 14 can be any material whose density ormechanical properties roughly correspond to the resistance of the boneof the animal, such as a fiber board material, including fiberglass. Inone example, the fiberglass panel can be created from a ¾ ounce wovenfiber mat and saturated with a 3:1 epoxy hardener with a thickness rangefrom 0.125″ to 0.5″. These properties can be manipulated to theapproximate properties of bone by adjusting the epoxy ratio of resin tohardener and the type of the fiber mat used.

For the internal organs of the simulated animal torso, the materialchosen should approximate the combination of gases and liquids thatcomprise actual internal organs, i.e. the resilience to penetration orspecific gravity of those organs. The internal organs of a large gameanimal comprise the majority of the thickness of the distance forshoulder to shoulder penetration. Internal organs cannot be accuratelysimulated with ballistic gelatin. The internal organs are the mostdifficult to recreate due to heterogeneity. To accomplish thisobjective, and as illustrated in FIG. 3, a container 15, such ascardboard tube or box, is filled with air bags 16 or a combination ofair and water bags 16. These bags 16 may be purchased premade fromvarious suppliers, or they may be simply constructed using conventionalplastic bags. Each container 15 filled with the bags 16 has across-sectional area that is approximately the size of the target image7, and is placed within the support structure 2 such that when fullyassembled, the container 15 is aligned with its own target image 7. Forexample, in the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, there are ninetarget images 7 arranged in a rectangular array, i.e. three targets ineach row and three targets in each column. Therefore, there are ninecontainers 15 filled with air and/or water bags 16, and they arearranged within the support structure 2 so that a projectile penetratinga target image 7 will also attempt to penetrate the associated container15. The length of each container 15 and the number of bags 16 that itcontains, i.e. its penetration resistance, is determined, as with theother simulant panels 12, 13, 14, by the real-life anatomy of the animalbeing simulated.

Because one of the objectives of the present invention is to represent atrue should-to-shoulder simulation of an actual animal, the supportstructure 2 also contains simulant panels near the rear panel 5.Depending on the energy of the projectile used, it is quite possiblethat the projectile will penetrate the hide/skin, muscle, bone, andinternal organ simulants and still possess sufficient energy to exit thesupport structure 2. Therefore, immediately following the containers 15filled with bags 16, i.e. the internal organ simulant, there arepositioned additional bone, muscle, and hide/skin simulant panels 14,13, 12, in that order.

It should also be understood that any simulants described herein can beadditive, i.e. more than one panel can be used for the hide/skin,muscle, or bone to simulant a larger animal torso having greaterresistance to projectile penetration. Similar adjustments can be for theinternal organ simulant by increasing the length of the containers 15and the bags 16 they contain. Furthermore, for simulation of the anatomyof larger animals, and as shown in FIG. 4, it may be advantageous tostack two or more devices one behind the other along the trajectory orprojectile path 30, especially if larger caliber bullets are used, sothat the deformed bullet remains contained within one of the enclosures.

Once the projectile impacts the target image 7 and penetrates thevarious simulants, the user can open the top panel 6 of the supportstructure 2 and inspect the simulant panels 12, 13, 14, including thecontainer 15 corresponding to the selected target image 7, to determinethe extent of penetration. For example, the user would typically firstobserve the rear hide/skin simulant panel 12 to determine if theprojectile has penetrated all of the layers of simulants. If completepenetration has not occurred, the user can begin to inspect subsequentsimulant panels from left to right from the perspective shown in FIG. 2.With this information, the user can compare the effects of variousprojectile combinations upon a specific set of simulant materialscorresponding to a specific animal by simply sending a projectile to anadjacent target image 7, because the mechanical properties (simulatinganatomical properties) are identical for each target. Once all of thetarget images 7 are shot and the simulant materials are altered ordestroyed, the entire simulant device, including the support structure 2can be discarded.

From the foregoing description, a number of advantages of the presentinvention become evident. First, one can accurately model the effect ofprojectile penetration from shoulder to shoulder of a big game animalbecause all simulant layers replicate the mechanical properties of theanatomical materials. Second, as can be appreciated, the simple andeconomically efficient construction of the present invention allows theuser to focus on specific animals and characteristics to determine thebest projectile to use in an actual hunting environment.

It should also be understood that the present invention can similarly beused for testing of projectile performance for military and lawenforcement purposes, inasmuch as the layers may be assembled in amanner to simulate a human torso as well. For example, testing forpenetration on ballistics garments (such as so-called “bullet-proofvests”) or protective armor can easily be accomplished via the presentinvention simply by inserting the appropriate protective material in thefront of the hide/skin simulant panel 12. Thus, even if the projectilefails to penetrate the ballistic garment material, the effects of itsimpact may be determined by inspection of the trauma or otherdeformations to the hide/skin simulant panel 12 located behind theballistic material.

All references cited in this specification are herein incorporated byreference as though each reference was specifically and individuallyindicated to be incorporated by reference. The citation of any referenceis for its disclosure prior to the filing date and should not beconstrued as an admission that the present invention is not entitled toantedate such reference by virtue of prior invention. It will beunderstood that each of the elements described above, or two or moretogether may also find a useful application in other types of methodsdiffering from the type described above. Without further analysis, theforegoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention thatothers can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for variousapplications without omitting features that, from the standpoint ofprior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic orspecific aspects of this invention set forth in the appended claims. Theforegoing embodiments are presented by way of example only; the scope ofthe present invention is to be limited only by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A device for simulating the anatomy of ananimal to determine projectile performance, comprising: (a) an enclosurehaving a front side and a rear side, wherein the front side includes aplurality of target images; (b) a plurality of containers equal innumber to the plurality of target images, wherein each of the containersis positioned within the enclosure and aligned behind one of the targetimages, and wherein each container includes at least one internal organsimulant material; (c) a front hide/skin simulant material within theenclosure positioned between the front side and the containers, and arear hide/skin simulant material positioned between the rear side andthe containers; (d) a front muscle simulant material within theenclosure positioned between the front hide/skin simulant material andthe containers, and a rear muscle simulant material positioned betweenthe rear hide/skin simulant material and the containers; and (e) a frontbone simulant material within the enclosure positioned between themuscle simulant material and the containers, and a rear bone simulantmaterial positioned between the rear muscle simulant material and thecontainers.
 2. The device of claim 1, wherein the enclosure is sealed.3. The device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of containersincludes a plurality of air inserts.
 4. The device of claim 1, whereineach of the plurality of containers includes a combination of airinserts and liquid inserts.
 5. The device of claim 1, wherein each ofthe front and rear hide/skin simulant materials is a panel approximatelyequal to the area of the front side and at least partially behind eachof the plurality of target images.
 6. The device of claim 1, whereineach of the front and rear muscle simulant materials is a panelapproximately equal to the area of the front side and at least partiallybehind each of the plurality of target images.
 7. The device of claim 1,wherein each of the front and rear bone simulant materials is a panelapproximately equal to the area of the front side and at least partiallybehind each of the plurality of target images.
 8. The device of claim 1,wherein the plurality of target images is arranged in a predefinedarray.
 9. The device of claim 1, wherein the resilience to penetrationof each of the hide/skin simulant material, the muscle simulantmaterial, the bone simulant material, and the internal organ simulantmaterial is determined based on anatomical characteristics of a specificanimal.
 10. The device of claim 1, wherein the hide/skin simulantmaterial is constructed from one of more layers of a material selectedfrom the group consisting of fiberboard, cardboard, leather, fabric, orimitation leather.
 11. The device of claim 1, wherein the musclesimulant material is constructed from one or more layers of a resilientmaterial.
 12. The device of claim 1, wherein the bone simulant materialis constructed from one or more layers of a fiberboard material.
 13. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein two or more devices are stacked along atrajectory of a projectile sufficient to simulate the anatomy of a largeanimal.